


Spell It Out

by TheYetiWrites



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Teachers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-22
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2020-07-11 15:55:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19930648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheYetiWrites/pseuds/TheYetiWrites
Summary: Clarke decides she wants to become a teacher after her life has been dictated to and then torn apart. Along this new path, she starts to carve friendships on her own terms and encounters many surprises along the way. College/Teacher AU





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Wow I finally decided I would make an account and post here. I wrote this one random night when I felt like I was actually capable of writing and then shared it on Tumblr (the-yetis-do-all-the-work) and got some positive feedback. I'm not sure how far this will go, but I definitely want to continue it and this serves as a good procrastination method for my real job, ha. This is my first fic in The 100 fandom and I know there are authors out there much better equipped to tell this story; but progress not perfection, right? I hope you enjoy my first chapter (of - hopefully - many).

“So we can both agree that this is weird right?” Clarke said, laying on her back, hands folded on her stomach and getting lost in the non-pattern of her dorm ceiling.

“That we decided to live together or that you drastically changed your major?” Raven replied sarcastically as she quickly folded her laundry and stored it away in her drawers. “Actually – both are. Yep, those are both weird.”

Clarke snorted and leaned over the rail of her bunked bed. “You know what else is weird? The fact that you’ve already had one go at the laundry when it’s barely been a week since classes started.”

“Lady,” Raven turned to look at her, posting her hand on her hip. “I moved in early and I worked out all of this week. I was running out of bras. _And_ ,” she pointed at the blonde, “friends don’t judge friends.”

“Ok, so since we’re not judging friends, do you really think my major is that drastic of a change?”

Raven sighed and sat against her drawers, bag of laundry still somewhat full. “Clarke, you made the decision already and you seemed really happy about it. I haven’t known you long, but I think you’re choosing something you truly love.”

It’s true, they hadn’t known each other for very long. They met at right before spring break of their freshman year. Clarke was a pre-med student at the time and had met Finn Collins sometime after winter break. She started the year a bit of a mess: her father had just died a few months before she started college and her mother threw herself into her work at the hospital. Clarke had been feeling a little lonely and Finn Collins provided the perfect outlet for her to rediscover fun and enjoyment.

All that was shattered when Clarke walked into the smaller library of the Engineering Department and found her what-she-thought-boyfriend with another girl in a _comfortable_ position. Clarke wasn’t one for big scenes and she confronted Finn about it a few days later on a date they agreed to a few days prior. He denied it categorically. So Clarke finally found Raven, told her the truth, and complications ensued. Months of bickering, lying, deceiving, but eventually Finn had been found cheating on his Agricultural Engineering midterm and was kicked out of the school. _Too bad he couldn’t have been kicked out for cheating on his girlfriend…s_ , Raven had said when she and Clarke decided to meet up for coffee after the whole affair.

Although a difficult situation, Raven and Clarke became friendly after that, albeit not close friends. However, because Raven mainly had “dudes who can’t handle anything with boobs” (her words) in her classes and Clarke was basically a hermit, the two made it a point to meet for some girl time every now and then in order to keep sane.

At the end of their sophomore year, Raven decided that she could no longer deal with randomly selected roommates and Clarke had no objections to finally being in a double and having someone to go to the cafeteria with, so their junior year they moved together in one of the dorms closer to the science buildings. They made that decision before Clarke realized that pre-med was making her miserable, that she wanted to pursue her previous passion of art, and that she actually wanted to share that passion with young minds.

“I do love it. But now I’m playing catch up on all of these classes and that I don’t love so much”.

“Oh boohoo you,” Raven threw her a sock at her roommate. “You know, I would feel a lot worse for you if your mom weren’t paying for your schooling. But seeing as an extra semester wouldn’t hurt you, I take no pity.”

“Yeah well she doesn’t know about this drastic change of plans.” Clarke looked at the brunette. Raven only stared back, ever so blasé. “She indulged the art major thinking it would be therapeutic, and I had enough credits in pre-med to take some art classes without completely throwing away the science part.”

“Ah.”

“Yeah. But she didn’t know about the whole Education thing.” Clarke rolled the sock into a ball and threw it back to Raven.

“Well, as someone who has been lied to and has had things hidden from, I would say,” she sighed, “just don’t tell her.”

Clarke chuckled. “What?”

“Yep,” Raven began folding her clothes again, leaving them on the floor next to her. “Look, if she were that serious about you becoming a doctor, she would be keeping a close eye on your whole academic career. But you’ve done the paperwork for the minor and everything without her noticing, so, why not just go with this flow? I’m sure she would rather have you graduate college as a teacher rather than not graduating at all.”

“What great perspective Raven.”

“There’s a reason they call me a genius.”

* * *

Clarke was exhausted. It seemed that no matter what discipline she decided to study she would be doomed to sleepless nights; although, in pre-med she was pulling all-nighters studying organic chem and now she was sitting in front of a canvas waiting for inspiration to strike for her painting class. She decided to take a trip to her favorite coffee shop which was in the building next to the Agricultural Library.

“Hey Clarke,” a voice said from above her.

Clarke opened her eyes, rubbing her face in hopes of ungluing her cheek from the textbook page she apparently fell asleep on. “Um, hi.” She blinked and her eyes finally focused on the face talking to her. “Harper?”

Said girl giggled. “Good morning. Mind if I sit?” Clarke shook her head, still trying to wake up some of her neurons from the impromptu nap. “You doing ok?”

Her “yeah” came out scratchy.

“So I miss having you in my lectures.”

“I miss seeing you too But trust me you’re much better suited to those bio classes than I am. Your brain works on something else Harper.”

“Ha I doubt that but I’ll take it regardless. You’re in Art now right?”

“Yep. Although I added Education to the mix.”

Harper raised her eyebrows. “Oh really? So you want to teach? Or just do something educational outside of schools.”

“I’m open to both but I am aiming for the classroom.” Clarke closed her textbook which had previously been her pillow.

“Well if you ever need any help or advice, I could get you in touch with my boyfriend. He’s in Education too, so he might be able to give you some pointers on… stuff.” Harper gave a shy smile. “I don’t really know what the teaching degree entails.”

“I appreciate it but anything that’s kind of ‘non-traditional’ teaching has its own unique course paths and whatever. What is your boyfriend majoring in?”

A white cup was set in front of Harper. “Agriculture. I’m in Agricultural Education.” Clarke looked up at the barista who brought Harper her drink. “I’m Monty, Harper’s teacher boyfriend.”

“As opposed to my pre-med boyfriend,” Harper joked. Monty laughed and motioned to his girlfriend to scoot over.

“Nice to meet you Monty. I’m pretty new to the whole Education department so if you see a blonde idiot puttering around the Ed building, you’ll know it’s me.”

“Except that she’s not an idiot,” Harper loudly whispered into Monty’s ear. “She’s brilliant. She had some of the highest grades in our classes together.”

“That was probably because I barely had a life, Harp.” Both girls laughed.

“Seems to be a commonality in you pre-med people, huh. Well if you ever need some time to relax or, you know, make friends,” Harper elbowed the boy next to her, “my roomie and me know where to party on Thursday nights.”

“Thursdays?” Clarke hated how old that made her sound.

* * *

After midterms were over, Raven decided to drag Clarke to Monty’s night out – whatever that was.

“But I don’t want to,” Clarke whined.

“Stop it already. You said so yourself that you needed to get out and your Monty friend offered a night out so let’s go! God, you’re such a drama queen.”

“Ok, but don’t you find it the teeniest bit odd that he wants to meet in a park?”

Raven sighed as she pulled on her signature red jacket. “A little yeah. But if he does decide to murder us, you know that he’ll get to me first and you have a fighting chance at survival.” She pointed at her knee brace.

“’Go have fun they said. Go get killed in a park they said’,” Clarke said in a sarcastic tone.

“Just come on.” Raven pulled her roommate by the arm and locked their door behind them.

* * *

“Hey you made it!” Harper said from her blanketed spot by the small lake. It wasn’t really a crowd by any means, but there were quite a few people, the majority of which Clarke didn’t know.

“Yes we did. I brought my roommate, Raven.” Clarke pointed towards the brunette. A few people nearby nodded or waved in acknowledgement. “So, uh, what’s going on here?”

“Jobi juice,” said another stranger. “The best kind of drunk that doesn’t involve alcohol.” He handed the two girls plastic cups with said liquid inside.

“That’s my roommate Jasper. He likes to make his own stuff and I would usually advise against it but I think he finally perfected this stuff.” Monty declared from his spot next to Harper.

“Wait, but how is this non-alcoholic without-” Clarke started.

“Don’t bother thinking about it.” Yet another character emerged. “All you got to know is that it’s good, won’t send you to the hospital and isn’t illegal.”

“As far as we know,” added Monty.

“Yeah, Bellamy aren’t you an RA or something?” asked Harper.

“I am. But since the rules I’ve been given said alcoholic drinks and this technically doesn’t have alcohol, so it’s out of my jurisdiction. And I honestly don’t care what my residents drink as long as they don’t bring it back to the rooms. They can do whatever the hell they want as long as it doesn’t cause trouble for me.”

Clarke snorted. “How noble.”

“I’m not seeking out trouble and they’re adults so it’s not really my problem unless they bring it specifically to me.”

“Well Clarke likes to go above and beyond for anything she finds is her responsibility,” Raven jumped in, trying to lighten up the mood before it got too somber.

“Brave Princess.”

“I just don’t find people our age to make very smart decisions and they might need a little guidance.” Clarke still hadn’t taken a sip from the jobi juice. She wanted to be clear-headed if she was going to argue with a stranger.

“Most of these kids who get in trouble have been pampered their whole lives and when given all this freedom in college they make the bad decisions. I’m not their mom. If they fall, they can get up on their own.”

Clarke scoffed again. “People from all different backgrounds make bad decisions. You can’t judge someone on their past.”

Bellamy took a step forward. “In my experience, kids who grew up too fast because nothing was handed to them tend to be a lot smarter when they actually become adults.”

“Oh and all those other kids, the rich kids, are just born idiots then?” Clarke swaggered closer to him.

“I never said that Princess,” he smiled.

“Woah ok Mom and Dad. Chill out. Have some more of my magic nut juice,” Jasper slurred as he walked up to his new friends. He looked at Clarke for an uncomfortable four seconds. “Wait, that came out wrong.”

The tension broke in the air. Clarke decided she would stay by Raven’s side tonight just to keep her sane.

Little did she know that this wouldn’t be the last time she would have to talk to Bellamy Blake.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, it's been forever. I'm sorry. Busy with work and school and I was lacking inspiration for this story.  
> But I was so excited to have a new chapter out that I didn't proofread. So... sorry for the typos.

Clarke was grateful that her workplace was so close to her next class. She was able to buy something from the café next to the museum and then rush over to building next door where she had one of her pedagogy classes. She had heard some poor reviews of the professor, but she only had to see him once a week, so she could suck it up and do her best in class.

When she walked into the small auditorium, she realized that there were few open areas where she could sit all by herself. She slowly made her way down the side, scoping out the rows in hopes for a section of three seats so she could have an island to herself.

“Clarke!”

She turned her head quickly and squinted her eyes looking for whoever called her name.

“Clarke!”

Her eyes finally fell on a friendly face with an excited wave: Monty. He waved her over.

 _Oof_ , she thought, _so many people to jump over_. She slowly made her way to Monty and finally sat down with a huff – making her way through a row full of people was a trek in and of itself.

“Hey Monty.”

“It’s nice to see you here.” He glanced at her hand holding a wrap. “Didn’t you eat before class? It’s a late class you know.”

“I was at work. Picked this up on my way here.”

“So the Princess works?” a lower voice said from behind. Clarke turned around and, as she thought, found Bellamy sitting two rows behind.

“Yes, I do. Is that also a problem for you?”

He smirked. “Nothing against some extra cash. So, who signs your paychecks?”

“Doesn’t really seem like it’s any of your business, does it?”

“You work at the art museum, right?” Monty asked brightly. Clarke nodded at him, wishing he would have kept his mouth shut. She really didn’t want to give Bellamy any more information about herself.

“Ah, the art museum. So no flipping burgers for you Princess?” Bellamy leaned in.

“I wanted something related to my major. Luckily, they were hiring and I needed money so it worked out.”

“Needed money? Aren’t your parents paying for school?”

Clarke scowled at him. “Again, I don’t know how any of this concerns you.” She huffed and took a bite out of her wrap to give herself a second to think. “And don’t you know that teaching students have to pay for their clinicals here? And it’s not a cheap sum either.”

It was Bellamy’s turn to let out some air. “Of course I know that Princess. I’m in this program too you know.”

That’s when it dawned on Clarke that Bellamy shouldn’t have been in this class with her. “Wait, aren’t you a History major? What are you doing in this section? Aren’t core subjects in a different class?”

“Bellamy’s schedule is overloaded so he can’t make the other section. Luckily Prof Pike was nice enough to let Bellamy take this section since it’s basically the same course.” Monty explained.

Clarke looked Bellamy over. He smirked at her again. She turned around fully this time, taking another bite of her wrap and deciding that she would have to put up with him for the rest of the semester, unfortunately.

* * *

It only took her a month to come to the conclusion that Bellamy was not the worse part of the class. It was their professor. Their final project solidified their perception of him being a complete bozo.

Professor Pike was nice enough and he didn’t assign a lot of homework. But he homework he did assign… it didn’t make sense.

“So we have to make an engaging slides presentation about,” Bellamy looked at the instruction sheet for the fifth time. “anything and nothing, and make sure to use transitions and effects?”

Monty sighed. “Bellamy, this is the fifteenth time we’ve been over this. Yes.”

Clarke could hardly conceal her smile. The three of them had gone to the library together to work on their education project which, to say the least, had them all frustrated. However, Bellamy’s reaction to what the project entailed was much funnier than she had anticipated, even though she also disagreed with what the professor was demanding.

“But I mean,” Bellamy sighed again. “does he think that none of us know how to use technology? Haven’t we all fooled around with putting random clipart and using every animation possible on stupid PowerPoints since computer class in middle school? How is this relevant?”

“I don’t know but just do it man. Your moaning and groaning isn’t going to help.”

Bellamy glared at Monty, to which Monty only raised his shoulders in defeat. Bellamy chanced a glance in Clarke’s direction.

“Clarke, come on. You’ve also got to realize how dumb this is?”

“I don’t know,” she responded. She obviously thought the project was idiotic, but seeing Bellamy fume was more entertaining. “Isn’t learning supposed to be _engaging_? If making things move on a screen and putting funny noises keeps kids engaged, why not?”

“You can’t be serious.”

“Well, he’s the expert, so we might as well do as he says.”

Bellamy slammed the instruction sheet on the table. “Yeah, like he’s ever taught History to a bunch of high schoolers. ‘Hey everyone, today we’re learning about the Roman Empire and how Nero supposedly burned down the city while singing’. And I’ll just put Nero in a striped font along with a yodeling gif in order to keep my students ‘engaged’.”

Monty started chuckling as soon as Bellamy put on his fake teacher voice. “Well, Bellamy, I know you would have caught Jasper’s attention with that class.” Clarke grinned widely at this too.

“Jasper could be as attentive as possible, nothing would stick with him.” Bellamy finally cracked a smile too. Having vented his anger about the project, he got started on making the most obscene presentation possible about Egyptian farming habits and only stopped to have Monty vote on the best meme to include.

* * *

_Forest Delinquents Groupchat_

Bellamy: you guys would not believed how rigged this competition is.

Jasper: is poor old Bellamy sad that he’s not winning the best teacher award? :( :( :(

Bellamy: this has nothing to do with teaching, believe you me.

Harper: when is your dumb competition over anyways? We’re all heading to Grounders right now to kick off the finals season and I would like my boyfriend there?

Clarke: well it depends on how long some of the music kids’ presentations are. They went all out.

Harper: not an answer Clarke.

Clarke: probably around 9? That’s my best guess.

Bellamy: over or not, I’m hauling ass at 9. I can’t take any more of this idiocy.

Harper: cool. It might be busy though.

Bellamy: I’ll text Murphy to see if he can spare us some stool space.

Jasper: Bellamy, you’re the man.

Jasper: And you totally deserve that best teacher movie award.

Jasper: Even if your presentation sucked.

Jasper: I mean. It was good. But it couldn't keep MY attention.

* * *

Bellamy sighed as he walked out of the building, quickly stuffing his hands into his pockets. “God, I’m glad that’s over. All those dumb presentations have turned my brain to mush. I need my drink now.” Monty agreed and shuffled to Bellamy’s side.

“I’ll, um, see you guys later then,” Clarke said.

Both men turned around. “You aren’t coming with us?” Bellamy asked.

“I’m underaged. So I can’t go.”

Monty smiled at her “You don’t have to drink, you know? They’ll let you in as long as you’re 19.”

“Oh.” Clarke looked in a different direction. “Well, I wouldn’t want to spoil your fun. Plus, Raven is waiting on me for dinner-“

“So invite her too,” Bellamy interjected. “It’s not like she doesn’t know us or hang out with us often. Tell her to meet us there and she order a burger or something.”

Clarke nodded and did just that, but she was feeling weird about Bellamy asking her to invite Raven.

To no one’s surprise, Raven gladly agreed to come with and quickly came over.

“Wow, I didn’t know how much I needed this!” Raven said as she stole the stool from Bellamy. She usually hate sitting on high chairs like these because the weight of her brace pulled too much, but after booking it from the dorms to the bar, she needed to sit down. Bellamy was happy to oblige.

“Needed what exactly?” Clarkes asked.

“A night away from school!”

“You’re still at school, you know.”

“Sheesh Clarke, you know what I mean. Away form my notebooks and stupid computer programs and whatever.” She put her arm around the blonde. Raven didn’t get drunk even though she did drink. She said that too much alcohol interacted with her pain meds weirdly, but the buzz from a few shots always felt nice. “It’s been awhile since you and I hung out outside of the residence hall. It’s fun to do more than just watch a movie every now and then.”

“Amen to that!” Harper said as she raised her glass of Pepsi. Clarke smiled at her. “My bio classes are just kicking my butt. And the professor doesn’t curve anything! I know for a fact that everyone is struggling in that course, yet the professor firmly believes that a perfect score is possible. Asshole.”

“It’s a form of encouragement Harper.” Bellamy said from the other side, a beer in hand. Clarke wondered how he got his hands on a beer so fast.

“Encouragement, really?”

“Yeah. Everyone _can_ do better, so he’s giving you the room to improve. If he curved it, why would you try any harder?” Clarke scoffed. “Don’t agree, Princess?”

“The whole point of a curve is to see where the average lies. If the majority of the class is circulating a C, then the test was too hard and he needs to adjust.”

“And inflate everyone’s grades? Yeah, what a great way to teach students what they’ve gotten wrong.”

“Well it’s better than just saying ‘do better next time’ and give zero guidance!”

“Who said anything about not giving guidance? That’s the whole point of an assessment – to see what you can do better next time! And who says that he doesn’t focus on that stuff after the test results are back, huh?”

“Like you know any better either-”

“Oy, no fighting at my bar!” the bartender shouted from his side of the drinks. Clarke knew this had to be Bellamy’s friend Murphy. He just looked like a Murphy. “I don’t do favors for just anyone, man, and I don’t like being thanked in academic arguments either. This is a school-free zone, ok?”

Clarke rolled her eyes and Bellamy simply responded with a “Shut up Murphy”.


End file.
